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On Tuesday, the Berkeley City Council voted unanimously on a first reading of measure to update their medical cannabis ordinances, adding a fourth dispensary permit, and tweaking rules for private collectives.

Berkeley also mandated dispensaries give away free weed to people with “very low incomes”. That’s right, weed is now free by law for some people in the liberal city.

According to new Berkeley regulations under Municipal Code Section 12.27.080, licensed medical cannabis dispensaries must give away to very low income people an amount of marijuana equivalent to two percent of their gross.

So if a dispensary sold 100 pounds of pot, they would have to give away two pounds of pot to the poorest of the poor.

The rules say that: “‘[V]ery low income’ shall mean the household income established by the most recent annual City Council resolution that establishes the maximum income levels for qualification for exemption from specified local taxes and fees. … [I]ncome shall be verified using federal income tax returns or other reliable method approved by the City Manager.”

That equates to less than $32,000 per year for one person, or $46,000 for a family of four NBC reports.

And you can’t give poor people trim.

“Medical Cannabis provided under this Section shall be the same quality on average as Medical Cannabis that is dispensed to other members,” rules state.

On Tuesday, Council also specified Berkeley residents and dispensary members would be first in line to receive the free ganja, said Charles Pappas a medical cannabis commissioner in Berkeley.

Berkeley’s new rules are part of a long tradition of “compassion” programs in Bay Area medical cannabis industry. Such programs stemmed from the beginning of the medical marijuana movement in the early 90s in San Francisco — when activists like “Brownie” Mary Rathbun would hand out free, weed-laced edibles to AIDS victims to combat nausea and wasting, and prolong their lives.

The idea is that someone who is severely ill and dying is both: the most in need of medical marijuana; and the least likely to be able to afford the botanical — which can fetch upwards of $60 per eighth-ounce (equivalent to about a handful of pot). At a gram a day, the nausea and pain medication can run $200-$600 per month.

Since California passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996, many Bay Area clubs have offered some type of “compassion” program patients can get on a list for, though Berkeley’s new rules are the most specific that we know of.

It’s not clear how legal it is to mandate businesses give away product, but then again, medical cannabis isn’t fully legal, either, and the industry is subject to all sorts of unique rules. Clubs must operate as a not-for-profit, for one. And they can’t use banks.

Still, imagine if Pfizer and other drug companies had to be non-profits, and give away two percent of all drugs sold. Now there’s a pipe dream.

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